News-Miner Editorial
Resolve caribou case
State must follow up on its responsibilities
Published Tuesday, September 30, 2008
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Stumble It!The state’s investigation of a caribou slaughter near Point Hope should proceed, and state officials should file charges if they believe a crime has occurred and if they can identify the perpetrators.
The village of Point Hope has asked that it be allowed to handle any punishment for the July incident. That’s fine on an informal basis, but the village government does not have legal authority to bring criminal charges for wildlife violations. The state of Alaska must take action, if any is warranted.
Village officials dispute the initial report from Alaska State Troopers, who said at least 120 caribou were killed and the meat from only about half that number was retrieved. Village officials said they found only nine unused caribou, all of which were left because they were diseased.
This is an enormous disparity that needs to be resolved publicly, at trial if nowhere else.
Troopers no doubt have documented the dead caribou fully. It’s hard to imagine how the number of caribou and the amount of salvaged meat could be seriously disputed.
To give the village officials the benefit of the doubt, they may not have had the resources or information necessary to find all the caribou that the troopers found.
The state’s initial allegations are difficult to reconcile with the often-repeated claim that people in villages use everything from every animal they kill. That is an admirable ideal, and most people strive to meet it. However, not all people take that approach at all times, whether they live in a village or a city or somewhere in between. Caribou are hunted hard when they are near communities. Add adrenaline, young people striving for status, fast machines and rifles, and the results sometimes stray far from the public testimony. This isn’t unique to Bush communities. Nor are they exempt, though.
State officials should investigate fairly and take action based upon what they find, no matter where it occurred.
Community Discussion
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I'm curious....How did the alledged shooters test for disease,and does anyone know if there is any truth to the alledged fact that there would be more dead caribou had not the shooters run out of ammo.
Get out the broom, lift up the carpet and sweep it under. The writing is on the wall, nothing is going to be done. It happened on their land, they will be in charge of the so called investigation and will not be able to decide on any punishment. But if a non-native did this, big fine, bye-bye truck, gun and 4 wheeler. And don't think you'll hunt again anytime soon.
MntMan, Great point on testing for disease. I wonder how they did that too, it would be nice to know what they tested for. I hope the Troopers have pics to support their numbers, but I'm sure this will all go away and nothing will be done as usual.
My cynical attitude comes from living in the Bush for many years. There are places in the Bush where poaching is common. I've seen hunters from the village circling caribou on snowmachines and firing wildly into the herd, waiting for some to drop while allowing the rest of run away wounded. I've witnessed moose hunts in February with village elders in the front of the group. There was more game in Anchorage and Mat-Su than around the village where I lived around the Kuskokwim River. There was a "dead zone" around the village in which practically every large bird and mammal was shot as soon as it was seen.
Of course, any criticism of any behavior observed in the villages is immediately labeled as anti-Native racism. In this manner, the real problems and concerns of the villages are never confronted, since non-Natives don't want to be tarred and feathered with insult and defamation, and those Natives who scream "racism" the loudest become the voices who are heard over the many Native people who are good, decent folks.
I fully expect those who slaughtered the caribou to remain unpunished. I really hope that I'm just too cynical for my own good.
Speaking of the "dead zone," I've heard old timers refer to any animal spotted walking towards a village (Ft. Yukon in this case) as a "Kamikaze".
I can see why.
Also, are bullets cheaper in the bush? They're gettin' pretty expensive here in town.
Nothing is going to happen. I'll be sure to remind the troopers of that if I ever, and I hope not too, violate a game law unknowingly. One of my hunting partners killed a sub-legal moose and turned himself in only to be raped by our so-called justice system. Too bad he wasn't a native or he could have gotten away with the "crime".
So if I shoot a caribou, and upon closer inspection determine it to be "diseased," I don't have to harvest it and I can shoot another on the same permit..?
Are small antlers a sign of disease?
Small Antlers are a sign of a Cow.
Let's wait and see what happens. The investigation is not completed yet.
BKB
Again, why not write about the illegal hunting activities that occur in this community. This area is far from innocent from game violations.
Just easier to point your finger at someone else.
That community needs to get their heads out of their you know whats... I'm a subsistance believing, using, and eating native and was raised that way. I'm just disgusted with the members of that community and how they have handled this "wasting" of caribou. Where is there sense of respect for the use of animals. If they cover this up and let those involved get away with it, they are just setting presidence for the younger generations to do the same. Not only that; my belief and the way I was raised is that when you disrespect your game meat or other subsistance foods, it might just never offer it's life to your community ever again.
"my belief and the way I was raised is that when you disrespect your game meat or other subsistance foods, it might just never offer it's life to your community ever again."
I couldn't have put it better myself. Maybe this herd will get wise and give Point Hope a wide berth. Just out of range of the 4 wheelers and snowmachines ought to do it. Let's see who goes hungry next year.
Wow what a crock...
Hey, at least natives here aren't going to wipe out the caribou like the plains buffalo got wiped out for their hides, don't worry there will be plenty caribou to go around and I don't remember anybody getting prosecuted for leaving all the buffalo meat to rot and those numbers were in the THOUSANDS EVERY DAY.......
But it's nice to have history as a scapegoat now so I guess in time the ancestors of Point Hope can say-
"it happened in the past so it doesn't matter now"
Because the same logic applies to the near extinction of the American Bison at the hands of Euro-Americans, right?
however it was legal back then, when the problem came about they corrected what they could. the point hope lawlessly killed for fun, no sense of respect for the laws or the animals
the goverment allowed the buffalo to be wiped out. the goverment knew how much the indians relied on buffalo for food and the hides. its a very old military tactic, similar to laying a siege to a city.
LostAlaskan,
Muskox were eliminated from Alaska by the mid-1800s due to overhunting. It was not the Euro-Americans who hunted them.
Fortunately, in our lifetimes, wiser practices by ALL Americans attempt to ensure the continued existence of all Wildlife in Alaska (even the reintroduced Muskox).
The point is, it happened in the past and it DOES matter now. Any society that does not learn from the past is doomed to repeat it. That is why it is vital to Wildlife Management in Alaska that ALL instances of waste be investigated and prosecuted in accordance with the Laws that apply to ALL Alaskans.
Incidentally, the Buffalo Herds within Yellowstone Park are very healthy. If the National Park Service continues to manage them as they have for the past 100 years, the species should thrive for ALL Americans to enjoy indefinitely.
BKB
baker- the Bison in yellowstone are ALL infected with bovine Tuberculosis from ranchers cattle and get SLAUGHTERED if they step 1' off of the park boundry, even though there has not been one case of those buffalo retransmitting the disease back to the cattle, so no, the herd is NOT healthy as it needs to expand off the park.
So basically those cows are still more important than the only remaining small herd of original, undomesticated plains Bison left, ranchers have never and will never tolerate buffalo competing with their cattle for food.
And yes, sorry, but European hunters DID hunt Musk-ox and they were almost wiped out in the early late 19th or early 20th century.
This info comes to me from scientists that I know personally, anyway the natives in those times didn't have near the firepower Europeans did so suggesting that they could kill nearly as many animals is completely ridiculous to say the least.
Maybe if you people didn't make things up to try and make natives look bad and absolve Euro-Americans for the exact same behavior you people are condemning natives for I wouldn't feel the need to comment here.
I just can't stand seeing unchecked stupidity being regurgitated over and over again by the same racist people who want "answers" and "justice", when they neither know anything about nor have anything to do with the situation.
Do you same people go to the courthouse and harass people you do not think got the proper amount of what YOU see as "justice"? I doubt it because........it's NONE of your business, if it was- then you wouldn't have to ask stupid questions or make ridiculous accusations.
Making ignorant, whiney, childish comments is not going to produce any information other than show the amount of ignorance and prejudice in this town, not what really happened up there.
Like I said- Sorry, but this was not the great animal slaughter of the century, Euro-American hunters still hold the record for that one, by far...............
Lost Alaskan,
The Buffalo Herd is certainly controlled, but no longer in danger of extinction (the number of Wild Buffalo was down to 39 at one point). My point being, under the management of the National Park Service at Yellowstone NP, there will ALWAYS be Buffalo available for our prosperity to enjoy.
I agree, Buffalo were slaughtered to near extinction in the late 1800s. It was a travesty. Thankfully, stewards of our resources like Pres. Theodore Roosevelt recognized the unacceptable practices and changed the way ALL Americans view the environment in which we live. That is why we have Game Management Laws today.
So, while I agree that the Buffalo slaughter may have been the greatest destruction of Big Game in modern North American History. It certainly wasn't in my lifetime. This Caribou slaughter IS the LARGEST case of Wanton Waste that I have heard of in my 48 years (16 of which have been in Alaska).
Because I am an Alaskan (and an American, and a Citizen of Planet Earth), it is AS MUCH MY BUSINESS AS IT IS YOURS OR THE PEOPLE THAT LIVE IN POINT HOPE!!! I have presented FACTS. You are the one that has constantly presented "ignorant, whiney, childish comments" that don't "produce any information other than show the amount of ignorance and prejudice" that you have and "not what really happened up there".
BKB
BTW - The Muskox was brought to the brink of extinction in the World by the 1920s. This was due to overhunting by both Native and Europeans in Canada and Greenland. At that time, Muskox were reintroduced to Alaska - where they had been extinct since the early 1800s before Europeans had even established themselves. Since then, with sound management practices, the Muskox have reestablished most of their former range.
Hopefully, with the cooperation of ALL Alaskans (regardless of Race) we will always have Muskox in our State.
wow, have you ever been to Yellowstone?....sure doesn't sound like it.
It is a PARK, complete with picnic tables, well worn trails, heavy traffic (over 2,500,000 visitors every year), pretty much a zoo without cages.
Saying that Yellowstone Park is some kind of natural ecology is like saying South Cushman is a wilderness area, the animals are ALL accustomed to human presence and aren't much more wild zoo animals.
So you don't count the thousands of house pets that are killed every year in this country as "wanton waste"? or maybe the hundreds of game violations committed around the country every year?(elk, deer, pronghorn, rocky mountain bighorn, etc. etc.) there are many cases of wanton slaughter of game animals all over this country/world.
How about all the "by-catch" in the fishing industry that gets wasted all the time?(in Alaska waters, legally) or is that ok because they're fish and aren't furry and cute to look at?
Waste is waste and to say that this is the ONLY case of "wanton slaughter" you've heard of in 46 years shows that you have a pretty selective view on what's right and wrong in your little world or you're just grossly misinformed.
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